Westonites to attend national convention

Barbara Reynolds, chairman of the Weston Democratic Town Committee, met President Barack Obama when he was in Stamford on Aug. 6.

Barbara Reynolds and Susan Moch of Weston will be among the nearly 6,000 delegates at the Democratic National Convention being held from Sept. 4 through Sept. 6 in Charlotte, N.C.

There are no Republicans from Weston attending the Republican Convention this week in Tampa, Fla.

However, Britta Lerner, chairman of the Weston Republican Town Committee, said the committee is wholly supportive of the Romney-Ryan ticket and was pleased to have solid convention representation from around the state and in Fairfield County.

“Here at home, the WRTC will be supporting the work of those at this week’s convention with strategic efforts designed to make this a winning election season for our town, our state and our nation,” Ms. Lerner said.

In Charlotte, the highlight of the Democratic convention will be Thursday, Sept. 6, when President Obama and Vice President Biden will accept the Democratic nominations for president and vice president.

Ms. Reynolds, who is chairman of the Weston Democratic Town Committee, and a member of the Democratic State Central Committee, was recently introduced to President Obama at an event in Stamford. “When I went to meet him, I started to cry, I was so excited,” she said.

She said the president was sympathetic towards her. “He said we can’t have that now, let me give you a hug,” Ms. Reynolds said.

Ms. Reynolds and Ms. Moch are both planning to attend a women’s caucus at the convention. “The difference between the two parties on women’s issues could not be more stark right now,” Ms. Reynolds said.

This is the first national convention for Ms. Reynolds, who said she also looks forward to visiting Charlotte because her daughter lives there and she will get to visit her, too.

Martha Aasen, left, from Westport, and Barbara Reynolds and Susan Moch from Weston are attending the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C. —Marc Poirier photo

Susan Moch is a member of the Weston Democratic Town Committee and a moderator. She said she always wanted to be a convention delegate, but until now never was.

Her husband, Roland Poirier, attended presidential conventions from 1984 to 2000 as a broadcast engineer for ABC news; now it’s her chance.

Ms. Moch will be attending the convention with her husband as well as her son, Marc, who will report live from the convention to The Weston Forum. She’s looking forward to seeing former President Bill Clinton, who is giving the nomination speech for President Obama.

Both Ms. Reynolds and Ms. Moch are classified as delegates at large and were chosen to attend the convention based on the party’s demographics in Connecticut.

“Basically, we had to apply to be delegates and we were chosen because our party needed more females to balance the delegation,” Ms. Reynolds said.

The women said they fully support president Obama and Vice President Biden. “I hope the President gets a second term,” said Ms. Moch.